Man United makes strong progress, Arsenal has a bright chance of winning next season

Context

The Premier League season 2026-2027 will have many changes compared to the previous season. In the group of top teams, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool will have new coaches, with Enzo Maresca, Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola taking on the positions.

On the side of Man United and Tottenham, they are preparing for a season fully led by Michael Carrick and Roberto de Zerbi.

In total, 9/20 teams in the league have new coaches before the season. Bournemouth quickly appointed Marco Rose to the hot seat replacing Iraola. Newcastle also gave a chance to Matthias Jaissle after parting ways with Eddie Howe.

Arsenal has bright prospects for defending the championship

The 3-0 victory over Man City in the English Super Cup match further strengthens Arsenal's position before the new season. Opta's supercomputer predicts that the Gunners have 38% chance of defending the championship in the new season. They still maintain a solid squad, while adding some quality rookies such as Tzolis or Bruno Guimaraes.

Arsenal is the most stable team in the Premier League in recent seasons. They are expected to become the next team to successfully defend the Premier League title after Man United, Chelsea and Man City.

Man City no longer has the service of coach Pep Guardiola, but they are still considered the number 2 candidate for the championship next season with a rate of 20.5%. Coach Enzo Maresca inherited a squad that is very suitable for his ball control style, led by Erling Haaland, who has won the Golden Shoe three times.

Man City's spending of 116 million pounds to recruit Elliot Anderson will help them have a key midfielder for many years, in the context that Rodri has moved to Barcelona, and Bernardo Silva joined Real Madrid. Man City is also approaching signing midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for a record price.

Liverpool has a 9.2% chance of winning the championship, according to Opta's assessment. They quickly added two center-backs Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo to pair with captain Van Dijk.

However, Liverpool also needs Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz to make big strides in their second season. Injuries and poor form have caused Isak to only score 4 goals for Liverpool last season. Wirtz is playing better, but fans still expect more from the former Leverkusen midfielder.

In addition, who can adequately replace the position left by Mohamed Salah is also a difficult problem for Liverpool. The Egyptian striker has left a huge legacy for Liverpool with 191 goals and 93 assists in the Premier League.

Odds for Man United soar

Man United has had 13 years without winning the Premier League title. During this time, they also only had 2 seasons in second place. However, this season, hopes are placed on them higher. Opta predicts they have 6.2% chance of winning the championship, significantly higher than the rate of 0.6% in the 2025-2026 season.

After Carrick was given the opportunity to lead Man United on January 12 this year, they have won 39 points from the last 17 matches last season (12 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses), the most points among teams in the league, 3 points more than Arsenal. That achievement helped Man United finish 3rd and win a ticket to the UEFA Champions League.

This season, Man United has added the midfield duo Tielemans and Andrey Santos. They have played quite well in friendly matches. However, to be able to compete for the championship, Man United needs to add a few quality players.

Behind Man United in the list of candidates for the 2026-2027 season championship are Aston Villa (4.8%), Chelsea (4.1%), Tottenham (2.9%)...